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'The Last Summer is beautifully told . . . a wonderfully satisfying read.' - Santa Montefiore
Summer on St Kilda - a wild, remote Scottish island.
Two strangers from drastically different worlds meet . . .
Wild-spirited Effie Gillies has lived all her life on the small island of St Kilda but when Lord Sholto, heir to the Earl of Dumfries, visits, the attraction between them is instant. For one glorious week she guides the handsome young visitor around the isle, falling in love for the first time - until a storm hits and her world falls apart.
Three months later, St Kilda falls silent as the islanders are evacuated for a better life on the mainland. With her friends and family scattered, Effie is surprised to be offered a position working on the Earl's estate. Sholto is back in her life but their differences now seem insurmountable, even as the simmering tension between them grows. And when a shocking discovery is made back on St Kilda, all her dreams for this bright new life are threatened by the dark secrets Effie and her friends thought they had left behind.
Opposites attract in this epic and spellbinding novel, which transports us from the untamed beauty of St Kilda to the glamour and intrigues of high society in the 1930s. The Last Summer is the first book in The Wild Isle series by Sunday Times bestseller Karen Swan, inspired by the true history of St Kilda and its small island community.
'The most exciting, enchanting and evocative story of forbidden love I've ever read. I truly loved it and am waiting feverishly for the second instalment' - Cathy Bramley
'Powerful writing and a wonderful premise make this a novel you'll simultaneously want to savour and race through. I loved it and can't wait for the next in the series!' - Jill Mansell
'A delicious romantic tale of wild 1930s Scotland . . . perfect for everyone dreaming of summer' - Rachel Hore
About the author
Karen Swan is the Sunday Times top three bestselling author and her novels sell all over the world. She writes two books each year – one for the summer period and one for the Christmas season. Previous summer titles include The Spanish Promise, The Hidden Beach and The Secret Path and for winter, Christmas at Tiffany’s, The Christmas Secret and Together by Christmas.
Her books are known for their evocative locations and Karen sees travel as vital research for each story. She loves to set deep, complicated love stories within twisting plots.
Her historical series called The Wild Isle, is based upon the dramatic evacuation of the Scottish island St Kilda in the summer of 1930.
Summary
An epic, sweeping historical novel from Sunday Times bestseller Karen Swan, The Last Summer is set on the Scottish island of St Kilda and is the first in a new series.
Foreword
An epic, sweeping historical novel from Sunday Times bestseller Karen Swan, The Last Summer is set on the Scottish island of St Kilda and is the first in a new series.
Additional text
I so enjoyed The Last Summer by Karen Swan, which provides fascinating details about
life on St Kilda prior to the evacuation of its inhabitants from the island. Powerful
writing and a wonderful premise make this a novel you’ll simultaneously want to savour
and race through. I loved it and can’t wait for the next in the series!
Report
The Last Summer is meticulously researched and beautifully told . . . a wonderfully satisfying read: love, passion, drama, violence, menace and peril, and characters you fall in love with . . . Happily, this is the start of a series so your longing for more will be fulfilled. Santa Montefiore
